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Paul DMing; Scott: Smudge (shadar-kai rogue 9 / barbarian 2) and Martin (duergar cleric 11); Dane: Tudo Fleck (dwarf cleric 11), Rob: Vox (half-elf bard 11).
Last time, our heroes defeated The Void Entity and deduced that each portal inside the UFO leads to one of The Planes.
Tudo plays with the communication device the party stole from the ice gnome Communion of Absolute Zero (which the Communion had first stolen from The Sodality of the Unblinking Orb). After tuning the channel, they hear snatches of staticy chatter — "Bay 3 door secured", "Clear passage zero for firing in T minus sixty", etc.
The party goes outside the Void Site and sees the distant beholder ship fire at the end of the countdown, its big red energy ray sending up a plume of steam from the ice.
While the party stands outside debating what to do next, the ice gnomes climb down the ladders into darkness and release The Void Entity. Vox (failing a Wisdom saving throw) thinks maybe throwing himself into the nothingness is a better plan than fighting the beholder.
Vox uses telekinesis to move the crystal dome of the control room up the icy hill, and locks into the main body of the Void Entity Site. It clicks into place in a very satisfying way.
Smudge and Martin and Tudo go below and see that the ice gnomes have indeed release The Void Entity. Smudge ties Tudo to the end of a rope, and lowers him into the undulating darkness. Tudo suffers 15 psychic damage from the Void, but does not fall under it's control.
Tudo: "Don't you want to ask me a riddle?"
The Void Entity: "YES, I do!"
The Void Entity: "What has one eye but cannot see?"
Tudo: "A hurricane."
The Void Entity: "That's not the answer from the ancient scroll, but..."
Tudo: "A needle."
The Void Entity: "Curses! Next time, you'll succumb to my wits!"
The Void Entity shrinks back into its box, like a jinni returning to its bottle.
Tudo searches the bottom of the site and find a hatch, one without a design etched into it.
Vox settles into the pilot chair, and the controls light up. He pulls back on the yoke. Vox and Martin are pushed down into their seats and the ground disappears from their view. They're surrounded by a glow.
Down below, Tudo and Smudge manage to stay on their feet.
Vox eases the yoke in the opposite direction, and the ship slowly descends. The joystick lets them move ship horizontally.
The beholder ship is visible in the distance and it seems to be represented on RADAR.
Vox presses the green button on his control surface.
Smudge, who's still below, sees all the round plinths on platforms 02 through 09 light up. He places the Metacarpus of Ooomega on the plinth on platform 02.
A new button appears on all three control surfaces in the cockpit. Tudo pushes the new button. A big glowing tube, like a giant lightsaber, extends from the radial edge of the ship.
Vox and Tudo pilot the Void Ship toward the beholder ship, intent of jousting with it using their big glowing lightsaber thing. On the way, they test the tractor bear, plucking an igloo from the icy surface below.
The beholder ship tractor beams the igloo also, and the two ships spin around each other, like huge, space-age bolas. Vox cuts the tractor beam and the two ships rocket away from each other in uncontrolled flight.
The Void Ship eventually rights itself. Vox turns back on the tractor beam, and they capture a two-headed penguin.
Smudge ropes the penguin and hauls it inside the ship. He names the penguin "Pebbles".